


Nomas a Ti

by UmbramMortis



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Bisexuality, Catholic Guilt, Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-04
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-11-23 02:36:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11393607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbramMortis/pseuds/UmbramMortis
Summary: Love begins with loss of ease,with cares, ardor, lack of sleeping;grows with risks, doubts and daring feats,sustains itself with begging and with weeping. - Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz





	1. Resurrection Fern

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for being patient with this rewrite! 
> 
> I wanted to created something that felt a lot more authentic to me, unfortunately Jack must suffer as a result.  
> Point of view has been changed, themes have been tweaked, sadness has been increased tenfold. 
> 
> It's gonna hurt, but it'll be worth it. Please enjoy.

_'In the shadow of the cross let me hide,_  
_There the Savior for my sins bled and died;_  
_There the precious, cleansing fount_  
_Flows so free from Calv’ry’s mount,_  
_In the shadow of the cross let me hide.'_

 

Jack washed his bite of food down with a swig of coffee, stretching his left leg straight to fish around in his pocket for his insistently buzzing cellphone. He had _planned_ to ignore it, since the most he got was a text or two from his mom wishing him a good day or asking when he’d have  time to catch up. But it kept _buzzing_ and _buzzing_ and frankly, it was starting to get a bit irritating.

 

He was surprised to see the Caller ID when he finally looked, Dad- 4 missed calls. Anxiety nagged at him slightly as he thought about what the reason might be; he unlocked his phone to dial him back. The last time his dad had called was three years ago, and the news wasn’t good- a childhood friend had gotten thrown in jail for grand larceny. The guy never seemed to be the type, so it took Jack by surprise at the time. Fortunately he didn’t have to think about it for too long before his dad picked up, but something seemed...different.

 

“Hey sorry I missed your calls, is something wrong?” Jack asked, leveling a bit of an unsure look over to Gabriel across the table; his legs tense as he readied himself to find somewhere with more privacy, just in case his anxiety was warranted.  
  
“John, we need you to come home...” His father’s voice was heavy on the line, trailing off in a pregnant pause that Jack scrambled to find the meaning behind.

 

“Dad you know I can’t come home, I should be finished training and be able to visit in August at the latest,” Jack said as he pushed himself away from the table, walking out of the mess hall to find a bit of privacy.

 

“We don’t have until August. It’s an emergency, I need you home within the week.” His father’s voice took on that sting of authority that Jack was so used to. There wasn’t room for arguing now, it would just result in a fight.

 

Making his way down the hallway, he prayed that his cell reception would hold long enough in the building for him to find a doorway outside, any place with a bit of fresh air to prepare him for the conversation. “Just give me a second okay--” he pleaded, shouldering open the exit to the training grounds and he leaned against the side of the building, worrying his lip with his teeth. “Okay now, what happened?”

 

 

There was a long pause, nearly long enough for Jack to check that the call was still active before he heard his father clear his throat. What came next was a wavering thing-- not the type of voice he’d ever heard from his father in his entire life, the sound just made everything so much worse. “Your mom wants you here, John. She’s really sick.”

 

The words hit him so suddenly, a wave of numbness crept from his head to his toes. ‘ _Sick...’_ It honestly seemed like such a cruel joke, people like her didn’t get a _cold_ let alone anything else. The irrational part of him wanted to yell, to tell his father off for playing such a sadistic prank on him, another mark on the list of ways to get Jack angry. He stuffed the anger down enough to keep his voice calm, biting back a scoff.  
  
“Yeah…” he murmured, brain fighting as he tried to make himself speak. “I’ll...be there...” It was enough of an effort to remember to breathe, mind racing and so frighteningly numb at the same time. “Gotta go,” Jack mumbled as his goodbye, ending the call before anything else could be said.

It almost felt like he was dreaming as pushed open the door to the building, making his way to his room in a haze. He vaguely registered that he opened the door; finding himself on the edge of his bed in stunned silence, he stared out into the open doorway as he tried to regain control from his daze.

 

It was difficult for him to calm his own racing mind, sitting amongst the stillness, running through everything they spoke of in the call. His father wouldn’t have told him to be there within the week if it weren’t serious, but...how serious was it? Part of him wanted to call back, demand answers he knew he wouldn’t get over the detached nature of a phone call.

 

He knew something was terribly wrong- Jack could feel it in the twisting of his gut, the rattling of his heart against his ribcage as he tried to carry on, pack his things so he could make his way back home. Of course, not before informing his superiors. He’d have to do that first, yeah, he should do that first.

 

Standing once again on trembling legs, he swallowed the spit that had collected in his mouth as he slipped out of the door, heading to where he knew his superiors would be.  

 

  


The conversation didn’t take long- lacking the usual decorum reserved for Jack’s exchanges with authority. His voice coming out in a small and soft _“I need to go home for a while, Sir.  I’ll call you when I know how long I’ll be...”_  
  
Finding himself in his room once again, he started on the slow and methodical task of packing his things. _‘Don’t think about it, Jack...’_ He told himself when he realized he’d paused, standing over his bag with t-shirt in hand and lost in thought, worried for the future. Was he over-reacting? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d jumped the gun on things, but the way his father sounded stayed with him like a brand to the brain, unsettling him to the core.  
  
_“_ Don’t think about it...everything will be fine,” Jack murmured, dropping his t-shirt into his bag and turning to snag an extra pair of shoes from underneath his bed.  
  
“Hey Jack.” Jack heard somewhere above him and he turned his head up to see Gabriel standing at the door, a tentative curiosity painting his otherwise cool features. “I was told I need to accompany you. Something about serum half-life,plus it might be good to have someone else around,” Gabriel said, voice as smooth as ever but tinged with concern in a way that almost made Jack feel worse. He zipped his duffle bag up, standing straight as he hefted it over his shoulder and turned his head to meet Gabriel’s gaze. Jack could feel the lump of anxiety settling high in his throat, the tightness of it causing tears to prickle at the corners of his eyes- ones that were quickly blinked away to try and hide how vulnerable he felt.

 

“Thanks Gabe, it’ll be nice to have someone to fill the silence…” Jack said, clearing his throat as he made his way out of the door, brushing against Gabriel with his bag as he went. The prospect of driving eleven hours didn’t make him feel great at all, but Jack would be lying if he wasn’t relieved at the fact he wouldn’t have to suffer the silence alone.

 

Leading them both through the washed-out, fluorescent halls of the base towards the car, he was silent the entire way to the parking lot, at a loss for words to say how he felt. Gabriel didn’t insist on keeping conversation-- which Jack was thankful for-- and they started the drive with nothing but the soft drone of the radio to keep Jack from being lost in his thoughts.

 

 

He made it three hours into the drive before reality hit him like a train, making him dizzy enough that he was scrambling for a place to pull over while his vision was blurring. Jack could feel the tang in the back of his mouth as the car skidded to a stop on the side of the road and he had just enough time to unbelt himself and throw open the door before a wave of anxiety washed over him, making his stomach churn strongly enough that he was retching onto the highway.

 

“Jack, hey are you okay?” he heard from behind him and he composed himself just long enough to wave weakly to Gabriel in the passenger’s seat as another wave of nausea hit him and he slipped out from the car, running to the grass on the side of the highway and away from Gabriel’s prying eye. It was enough for him to bear with the usual side effects of injections without having the suffocating anxiety over the unknown on top of it all and he was feeling it hard, skin awash with sweat as he held himself up on trembling limbs and spat into the grass.

 

He could feel Gabriel’s eyes on him from the car, heard the door open but not the footsteps he expected to hear approaching him. Sitting for a moment on his knees, he stared at the wall of wheat in front of him, hushing as they rubbed against each other in the breeze. Jack could feel his heart slowing, the anxiety waning as he closed his eyes to listen to the wind in the crops, the closest sound to home he had.  
  
It took only a moment more before Jack was composed, standing slowly and making his way wordlessly back to the car. Gabriel had slipped into the driver’s seat while he was gone, a small measure of comfort as he worked to keep himself together. Sitting in the passenger’s seat, he rolled down the window and used a hand to wipe the sweat from his brow. “Sorry, I’m alright,” Jack said, hoping he didn’t need to explain himself, show that he was any weaker than what Gabriel already saw in him. He wasn’t sure he could take it.  
  
“Don’t worry about it, you feeling okay now?” Gabe asked, checking the mirror and pulling back onto the deserted highway. The sun was bright and Gabriel narrowed his eyes, glancing away from the road to look at Jack, who rested his head against the passenger’s side window.

 

Jack was silent, a faraway look in his eyes as he watched the scenery pass by in hues of green and gold. He caught a glimpse of himself in the side mirror and frowned, skin sticky with sweat and hair flattened against his temples and if he’d been able to muster the energy he’d likely primp. But not now, too much sickness and death clouding his thoughts to really care beyond just existing.

 

It was only when they passed by the carcass of a deer on the side of the road, Jack’s head turning to study the way the wildflowers grew amongst the decay that his brain reminded him that he was asked a question. As if on queue, he heard it again, this time preceded by his name and he hummed in acknowledgement, just enough to tell Gabriel that he was heard, nothing more.  
  
Sure, Jack thought, he was fine.  
  
At least, for now.


	2. The End is the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With you or without you,  
> there's no help for my suffering:  
> with you, because you kill me,  
> without you, because I die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Kiip, Vita, Lexi, and the rest of you lot.
> 
> Thank you so much for your patience, we're in it now, boys!

_Something in you believes that it is not the end._

_When you wake, sixth grade will start. The finite you know_

_you fear is infinite: even at eleven, what you love is_

_what you should not love, which endless bullies in-_

_tuit unerringly. The future will be different: you cannot see_

_the end. What none knows is when, not if. - Frank Bidart (If See No End In Is)_

“So...what's your family like?” Gabriel asked after another measure of silence. It was an innocuous enough question, and Jack couldn't figure out if it was the easy way Gabe had spoken or the conjuring of freshly baked pie and fields of sunflowers in his mind that led him to speak first.

“Well,” Jack’s voice is shaking still from the nausea, he feels ashamed by it, snaps his mouth shut, clears his throat, tries again. 

“My mother’s name is Annette, but she’s gone by Annie almost as long as I've been alive.” He feels a bit awkward introducing his parents, but swallows the feeling and continues. “I think you'll like her, she's so--kind and works so hard, if I had to pick one person I truly trusted it would be her.” 

Jack felt his cheeks flush at his own reverence and he steadfastly kept his gaze turned to the window to assuage the flair of embarrassment at being so in awe of her. Even if he was, Gabriel didn't need to see the brunt of his pathetic, unmasculine idolatry.

“And your Dad?” Gabe asked, glancing at him now, the corner of his mouth turning up at the pink on Jack’s cheeks.

Right. His father. What could he say without the strain of years of what he later learned was abuse bleeding into his voice?

“My father’s name is John. Hard worker, smart, serious,  _ devout _ . Strongest man I've ever known, if I'm honest.” 

It wasn't a lie, his father worked harder than anyone he'd ever met in his life. Worked himself to the bone to feed his family, reminding Jack more of a ghost passing through the halls of the family home than a flesh and blood person. Distantly, Jack wondered if that was where all of his father’s compassion went, gone with the death of the crops and the livestock. It surprises him that there was ever a time where he wished they were alike, tries to pretend he still doesn't wish for it, now and again.

“Any siblings?” 

“Only child.”

Gabriel hums in acknowledgement, tries not to press about the tightness that crept into Jack’s voice when he spoke about his father. There was a history there that Gabe wasn't sure he was ready for. 

“Uh-what about you? What's your family like?” Jack said, curious and equally anxious to take the spotlight off of himself. It occurs to him they've never talked like this before, so casually and beyond the call of duty. 

Gabe paused for a moment, clearly in thought before huffing out a laugh and saying, “Mom is a badass, hilarious, sharp as a tack, an amazing cook, works two jobs now so I don't get to talk to her as much as I'd like. If you ever get the chance to meet her prepare to be adopted.” There was enough humour in his voice that Jack found himself smiling, tearing his gaze away from the window so he could pay closer attention. 

“Dad was great, loved to eat good food and smoke cigars after dinner…” Gabriel trailed off a little, remembering a snapshot of his teenhood, sitting amongst the smoke in the living room and singing age old songs in Spanish. Some things you just can't forget. 

“Was?” Jack almost didn't want to know, but couldn't resist the pull of the past-tense.

“Ah, yeah, he died about two years ago. Right when I joined SEP. I knew it was coming though, he was sick for a long time before then.” Gabriel couldn't pretend that the thought didn't still hurt, the gentle peel of a still open wound that he'd worked so long to heal.

Two years later and he still couldn't get the skeleton in the bed out of his mind. Vague images of marigold flowers and votive candles floating around in the back of his brain. Proceedings in Spanish and English, compounding the grief in more than one language. He shook off the recollection with a shrug. 

“I'm the oldest of three as well, have two sisters to look after now that Dad’s gone.” A protective sort of fondness filled his chest as he thought of them, though it wasn't without a bit of regret at how much of their lives he’d missed now that he was in SEP. So many more missed birthdays than before. 

“Valentina turned fifteen last month- damn she's smart as hell. I can tell she's gonna be a surgeon or astronaut or some shit,” a moment's pause, “I miss her so much.” 

Jack wondered in silence what his family was like, if they shared the same sense of humour or flair for the dramatic. It really suited him.    
“Roxy’s off in college now, doing her art thing, hardly ever hear from her anymore. Auntie said she was doing really well, though. I’m trying not to worry.” Gabriel admitted, chewing a bit worriedly at his lip. It was tough, having to be this ‘patriarchal’ figure and help keep everything together only to leave for the military and struggle with the vague sense of abandonment he felt about it all. 

“I’d like to meet them someday,” Jack murmured politely, more out of a need to fill the silence than any real desire to have his words become truth. Thinking on it, save an emergency like this he couldn’t imagine a scenario in which they’d cross paths. It took a second for him to keep from being wistful about it- he was beginning to like this life that Gabriel was giving him a glimpse of. 

“Someday you will, I’m sure,” Gabe assured, glancing at the road sign as they approached, noticing the name of some truckstop diner five miles ahead. “You hungry, Morrison?” he asked, the first pang of hunger hitting him and the cramped space of the car beginning to make him antsy.

“Starved,” Jack replied after some consideration, anxiety finally subsiding enough for the knot in his stomach to loosen. His appetite was once again making itself known, gnawing at his insides with the sort of persistence that had to be dealt with swiftly.

Pulling into the diner, Gabe busied himself with finding a place to park as a wave of fatigue finally hit Jack, strong enough to leave him loose limbed on the seat and loathe to move. Though the squeeze of the other man’s hand on his shoulder roused him enough to follow Gabe inside.

Jack resurrected over a sky-high plate of lukewarm fried and a glistening burger. It was all absolute trash, swill, delicious, delicious carbs. He could ask for nothing more. 

“So did you grow up in Bloomington or wherever?” Gabriel asked through his own mouthful of burger and Jack paused, envious of the fact that he could look so attractive with mayo in his goatee.

“Mm…” Jack swallowed, taking a sip of his strangely tangy water. “Sort of, I finished grade seven before Dad inherited the farm and we moved out of the city. Mom quit her job after that and essentially made it her mission to help around the farm and raise me.” 

And help with the church and the community, though Jack didn’t say so.

“What made you join the military?” 

If Jack were honest, he just kind of assumed that everyone had joined for the same reason, what with the crisis and a war looming on the horizon, he rarely felt himself curious enough to ask. Of course it was true for him as well...more or less.   
“Well the crisis, obviously. But I needed a change, spent my whole life in Indiana, chasing dreams I couldn’t reach. Didn’t want to end up stuck and any more unhappy than I already was. I wanted to feel like I was making a difference--” he caught himself rambling, stopped himself from going on too long by taking a focused drink of water.

Gabriel regarded him carefully before speaking, “Yeah I get what you’re saying. Guess we all had to put our dreams on hold for this war, eh?” He reached to wipe his mouth with a napkin before grinning. “What kind of dreams did you have to leave behind?”   
“They’re dumb.”

“Humour me,” Gabe pressed, amused by the shy look on Jack’s face.   
Jack suddenly felt self-conscious, talking about ‘foolish stuff’ like his hopes and dreams made him subject to a lot of scrutiny and disapproval from his father over the years. He wasn’t even able to entertain a thought without an argument ensuing. After a while he just decided that giving it up was less exhausting than fighting to keep it. But Gabriel was looking at him with genuine interest, which was a lot more than what could be said for his upbringing.

“Well...you know that super old like--daredevil from forever ago? Evel Knievel?” Jack said with a bit of a bashful laugh, “I used to dream about doing something like that, being a stunt rider. I used to ride dirt bikes all the time, practiced jumps and shit until I broke enough bones to piss my dad off and he sold my bike.”    
He propped his chin on his hand, staring out of the diner window as he reminisced. Another broken wrist and his father red in the face and screaming at him to ‘give up this childish carrying on’ and to ‘do something worthwhile for once.’ Jack’s bike was sold the next morning and he was shipped off to his cousin’s cattle farm for the summer to ‘learn something useful.’ From that day on the dream had died for him. 

“Shit, man. What an awesome dream,” Gabriel said, excitement clear in his voice and broke Jack out of his melancholic daze. “What would your daredevil name be?”    
“Pfft, I don’t know. Never really thought about it.”   
Gabriel smoothed a hand over his goatee in thought, nodding casually to the waitress as she cleared their plates before he met Jack’s gaze, amused expression breaking his features. 

“The Golden Boy.”    
“God,  _ no, _ ” Jack snorted, crossing his arms.    
“Alright, alright...Corn Man,” Gabriel’s voice cracked in a laugh, feeling alive at the sight of Jack’s scandalized expression.

“Fuck  _ off _ ,” Jack groaned, cracking a smile and tossing some bills on the table when the waitress returned with the receipt. ‘No rush’, she said, still, the glamour of the diner was fading and Jack was itching to get driving again.

But he was curious, now that Gabriel and him were talking, what kind of dreams he had to leave behind as well. Why did he join when he lived in a city with so much more opportunity?   
“Why did you join, Gabe?” Jack called over his shoulder, turning to catch the keys Gabriel tossed at him as they exited, reclaiming his spot in the driver’s seat with a renewed sense of control. A few moments passed as Gabe got comfortable, stretching out his legs as best he could before looking at him.    
“Money, mainly. Doesn’t hurt to fight for peace, I guess. I wanted to go to school but we couldn’t afford it so I enlisted to help save and just--stayed.” Gabe shrugged, it was the reality of a lot of would-be students- gotta pay your bills before you pursue ‘unnecessary degrees’.

“What did you want to go to school for?”

“My first love was photography, but I was wooed by film shortly after, but you know how it is. School’s expensive-maybe one day, once the war is over.” 

Jack nodded, pulling back onto the highway, brows furrowed in thought. He glanced towards Gabe- never pegged him to be the artsy type but the more time they spent together the more his theatrical nature shined. “That’s really great, Gabe. Maybe you can film my origin story someday,” he teased with a smile. 

“Like a superhero origin story?” Gabe asked, thinking of what Jack’s outfit and powers would be. For sure he’d be dressed in that  _ very  _ flattering tour de france bike gear, with powers like never losing the mate to a pair of socks or being invisible when nobody was looking. A secret smile tugged at his lips.

“Fuck yeah,” Jack asserted, reaching to turn the radio on for some background noise now that he was able to function without the weight of anxiety on his shoulders. It was nice to have someone there to keep him out of his head, especially someone like Gabe that had just the right sense of timing when he joked to dispel Jack’s worries and get him to relax. It was something he was really grateful for.

“Hey, thanks for coming with me. I really appreciate it,” Jack murmured, thumbs absently rubbing the steering wheel as he drove, another habit he picked up to manage anxiety- he should write a list of them all at this point. 

“Well it’s not like I  _ volunteered  _ or anything,” Gabe said with a laugh, “But honestly, man, don’t worry about it. Shit like this sucks so it’s nice to be there to keep you out of a funk.” Thinking back on his father’s death, it was hard for him to stay sane when trying to keep his mother and sisters safe and intact. The stress left him hitting the bottle hard just to quiet the voices in his head. He’d passed out drunk asleep more than once. But if nothing else, he was glad he made it out in decent shape- committed to being the type of person his dad would be proud of instead of wallowing in his grief and putting himself on the streets.

The rest of the drive was spent in relative silence, the low hum of the radio to keep them from nodding off at the wheel over the vast expanse of indistinguishable farmland. The reality of how close they were hit Jack as they pulled out of the last gas stop, feeling his stomach tighten once again and he breathed slow; 100 miles left. The final hour.

It wasn’t overly long before the city was visible in the distance, filling Jack with a vague sense of melancholy; it was hard coming back now, always was with the familiar faces he’d inevitably run into, a mixture of good and bad. He wondered if he’d be asked to play nice with some of those old acquaintances- the kind you have on social media but you don’t really give a shit about but if you unfriend them ‘they’ll know’ and frankly, Jack never knew what to say around them anyway. ‘Oh hey I noticed we have zero in common other than the fact that we were on the same sports team a decade ago! Do you still happen to like football?’

Not to mention, Jack was never one for typical country life anyway, biking aside. He was always ‘too christian’ for parties (and too shy). But it never mattered anyway, his Dad made sure to schedule his days to include as little free time as possible. ‘Idle hands are the Devil’s playthings’ and all that.

It seemed the only reprieve he had growing up was sneaking freshly baked treats from the pantry and hiding in the hayloft once the sun went down, blanketing their land in protective, impenetrable darkness. He’d lay up there in the hay for hours, listening to the horses and the few cows they owned milling about, the final solace he had to dream without scrutiny. Occasionally he’d drift off, waking just before dawn and scrambling up the tree by his window to hop back into bed before his father woke to check on him. By some grace of God he’d awaken to a note in his mother’s handwriting, reminding him to check his hair for hay.

She’d spare him from his father’s moods as often as she could. It was why he never entertained the thought of resenting her over the years. She’d been the only one to see who he was behind the trophies in the cabinet and the photographs on the wall. 

Jack sighed as they reached the road, nearly hidden now with the fast approach of dusk and he turned down the road, willing himself to zone out lest he slam it in reverse and never return. He didn’t want to do this, be here, have to walk up the steps to the front door and face reality. It was still a mystery to him how bad it was, if he’d see his mother and be able to keep it together or if she would really look as frail as he feared and he’d fall completely apart.

Gabriel must have sensed what he was feeling, because his hand came up to brush across the roll of Jack’s shoulder, squeezing twice and resting there. “Car’s not gonna drive itself,” He reminded as they had slowed to a crawl, Jack’s eyes laser focused ahead of him. It seemed to be enough to snap him out of it and they resumed their speed with a short apology from Jack.

Though he was becoming increasingly worried by the way Jack seemed to be leave the planet for longer and longer the closer they got to the house.

He wasn’t sure what to say, if there even  _ was  _ anything to say. Was this really all just because of his mother, or was it due to something else that Jack was trying to keep under wraps? Gabriel wasn’t totally sure, but he didn’t feel great to see Jack this way. The bright yellow of sunflowers swaying in the evening wind greeted them and Gabe could feel Jack tense under his hand, rigid in his seat and a long, suffering sigh leaving the blonde’s lips before at last they turned up the driveway.    
Jack’s anxiety waned slightly at the sight of his childhood home, taking in the subtle differences from when he had last visited, like the sweet peas creeping up the front of the porch, the cute little rabbit statue nestled in the day lilies that wasn’t there before. It made everything seem so much more domestic and inviting than what he’d remembered, but there was still that great unknown beyond the front door, the shadow over his life that felt so much darker than the nightfall. 

A breath and the car was parked, keys clenched tightly in Jack’s hand as he willed himself to exit with his bag and approach the door. This was fine, right? He asked himself in his mind as he ascended the steps to the door. There wasn’t a tiger or an omnic waiting on the other side to drain his life in the blink of an eye? It was mundane, just a sick mother, and a father he loved as much as he feared. Nothing more or less than that. 

Jack raised his hand to knock when Gabriel gave him a look. “You don’t have a key?” he asked, shouldering his bag as he looked through the lace of the front window curiously. 

Pausing, Jack shook his head, tilting his head to look through the window as well. He could see the glow of the light from the kitchen, illuminating everything once familiar to him, seeming so removed now. Like he was spying on someone else’s life. Jack convinced himself all of this was nothing more than decades of anxiety. “No, this isn’t my home anymore.” He brought his hand back up, swallowed down the fear, and knocked.


End file.
